"I'm still willing to learn the game of basketball" -- Carmelo Anthony

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – If memory serves, the last time Phil Jackson mentioned the name “Carmelo Anthony,” it was not in the most flattering context.

Basically, as he pondered the next post-retirement transition in front of HBO cameras in June of 2012, Jackson identified Anthony as the primary reason why he would not seek employment with the Knicks, the first love of his NBA life, or fulfill his destiny as Red Holzman’s truest scion.

In short, Jackson told the whole truth. He viewed Melo as a flawed player, an unwilling passer, and the fundamental reason why the Knicks were “clumsy,” or constructed with ill-fitting pieces.

Of course, this was before the Knicks embarked on a brief but interesting journey toward respectability under an egghead substitute teacher named Jason Kidd. But you still wonder this about the interval that has passed since Jackson’s rebuke:

What has really changed? Are any of those observations dated?

The short answer is no, which is why the first step in this relationship is a pretty good chance for Melo to declare whether he really believes Jackson will make a difference after he is introduced as the Knicks new Basketball Buddha this morning at a news conference at Madison Square Garden, or doesn’t need a course correction after 11 years as a shooting star.

So we put it to him Monday:

What happens when Jackson makes it clear to Anthony that he wants him to stay in New York, but that he wants him to play a different game?

“What’s a different way?” Melo replied.

You know, different. That way you play now? The methods and style that led to that 21-40 start? Different from that.

In other words, a less sticky, more flowing, altruistic, read-and-react style that will get the most out of everybody.

Or, anything but that isolation rubbish that makes the entire league groan every time you square up.

“I’m willing to do whatever,” Melo said casually. “As long as it’s gonna put me in a position to win, I’m willing to do whatever. I’m not sold or stuck on my play. What I’ve been able to do these past 10, 11 years has gotten me at where I am right now. If Phil wants to come in and change that this late in my career, if it’s going to help me win a championship, I’m with it.”

Good, because that will basically be the foundation to whatever relationship these two men have going forward.

Melo said he has never had a single conversation with the Zen Gardener, which is odd given his 11 years in the league. But one can probably assume Jackson respects talent and will at least be open to taking the franchise forward with Melo still wearing its colors. Who knows? that could be an airball. But assume he wants a guy who can make any shot: What reaction will Jackson get after he tells Melo his career can no longer be judged by making shots?

There was some scaling back with other superstars in Chicago and L.A., and the result was 11 trophies combined for the Bulls and Lakers.

Jackson is the guy who gave Michael Jordan that no-man-is-an-island spiel, and it provided a clarity and purpose that changed the NBA forever.

He’s the guy who got Kobe Bryant to suppress his narcissism to win three titles, and after a respite, transformed a pouting pinhead into an esteemed elder statesman who won two more.
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In each case, he tried to teach stars that “spirituality. . . .is to incorporate other beings in your plans,” and understand that “your actions create actions that other people have to deal with. And your best nature elevates their nature.”

Yes, he believes all that. We should all be so lucky to believe in something.

But that’s what is overlooked about Jackson. He does not build champions, he merely completes them. As longtime assistant Frank Hamblen puts it, he is “the greatest closer in NBA history.”

This is what Melo has to think about in final month, with the opportunity to leave in July: The most productive coach in history wants that for him, and even if Jackson doesn’t coach anymore, Anthony will have access to someone who can impart life-affirming lessons one way or another.

“As far as knowing what it takes to win, Phil is the best to ever do it,” Melo agreed. “So for me to be able to have the opportunity and have him by my side, for him to teach me. . . . I’m still willing to learn the game of basketball.

“I haven’t won anything. He’s won a lot. I can learn a lot from him and his system. I’m hoping and praying this all works.”

If Jackson can do it, if he has one last run as Sensei To The Stars, call it a worthwhile pursuit. It won’t happen in one year. It may not happen in two. But by then, we’ll be able to write the final chapter on a career that is among the most tantalizingly imperfect to pass through here.